


Cotton Candy

by JustClem



Category: Nomad of Nowhere (Web Series)
Genre: Cute, F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff, Frustration, cute fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-01-06 09:05:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18385292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustClem/pseuds/JustClem
Summary: "Thought you didn't like sunsets."Toth couldn't help but smirk. Damn, she knew her well."I don't."~Of course she'd failed to capture the Nomad again. Of course Skout would go out of her way just to give her some stupid cotton candy... And... of course Toth couldn't stop the butterflies in her stomach from swarming again, making her heart beat faster and making it hard for her to think about anything other than the beautiful dunderhead in front of her.





	Cotton Candy

Toth's body was like a lead. Her hair dangled in front of her face, covering her line of vision. Usually, she'd quickly swat away the offending dark strands and focus on whatever would lead her to catch the damn Nomad.

But that was the irony of it all...

The Nomad… was nowhere to be found.

Again.

She'd walked into another dead end.

Again.

She had failed.

Again.

With a soft, withering sigh that contrasted her stoic nature, she let her body give up on trying to stand. No one was here anyway. Her soldiers were doing whatever the hell they always do on breaks. And Skout-

"Hey, Toth."

Nevermind. Looks like she wasn't as alone as she once thought.

Toth didn't turn her head around to look at the girl. She didn't move even an inch of her body. She simply sat at the edge of the cliff, gazing into the sunset. She didn't know why she was even gazing into the sunset. She hated sunsets. They were overrated. Like beers.

There was the shuffling sound of boots that grew closer with each step before the orange-haired girl was by her side.

"Thought you didn't like sunsets."

She couldn't help but smirk. Damn, she knew her well.

"I don't."

There were more sounds. She didn't bother tilting her head to see what the girl was doing. It was probably something stupid anyway. Some stupid thing that she would come to like. Just like always.

"Here." That was when Toth tilted her head, only to be met with something pink and fluffy.

Cotton candy.

Of course it was cotton candy.

She took it. She opened her mouth to thank her, but the words wouldn't come out. Instead, she asked, "Where did you get this?" She hadn't seen anyone selling the sweet treat anywhere - at least, not nearby. Judging by the way Skout rubbed her neck and looked at anywhere but her eyes, it must have cost her something.

"I… sort of traded one of your knives for it." Yellow eyes widened. "After running all the way to another town to get it." They widened even more one might think they would fall out from her eye sockets. Skout recoiled. "Sorry! I'm sorry! It's just - you look so down in the dumps, I just-" She bit her lip before letting go a deep, resigned sigh. "Look, Toth, I know that you need to catch the Nomad, but sometimes… it's like that's all you think about."

Now, the funny thing was how untrue that was.

Sure, it might've been the truth, once upon a time.

But after this skinny, smart, emerald-eyed, orange-haired girl came to her life, another thing she began to think about was how to get rid of her.

And… after that girl somehow wormed her way into her heart - the heart she thought had died long ago… what she began to think more and more was what was she to do with these feelings.

Toth was no romantic. And she had no interest in pursuing this disgusting waste called love…

So why did she have it?

And why her, of all people?

Why must it be Skout? The skinny, good-for-nothing amateur who looked up at her as if she was this goddess…

Why must it be Skout? The girl who was with the heart of gold. The girl who could prove to be one of the best hunters there ever was.

… The girl who she, a woman destined for the path of darkness and greed, didn't deserve.

She had qualms regarding this weird, bothersome feelings that was growing inside her - feelings that made her do irrational things, feelings that made her abandon her protocols, feelings that, dare she say, changed her… into a… better person.

Toth couldn't get rid of it.

So all she could do was focus on the task ahead, on what was truly important; her duty, and squash down these feelings in the deepest part of her and lock it away in a place where it could never see the light of day. Ever.

Yes. That sounded like a reasonable, not to mention perfect idea.

Too bad she couldn't actually do that, no matter how hard she tried.

"Toth?"

The voice. It sounded hesitant. Unsure. Unlike how it usually sounded. She didn't like how it sounded. The voice had always been cheerful, fun, but also serious and adventurous.

She turned towards the voice - and she was both glad and not glad that she did.

Skout had always been a beautiful girl. Sure, she might not have those big lips or an 'ideal' body type, but there was this charm in her that drove people closer towards her - like magic.

She was more intelligent than any sorcerers and she was braver than any bounty hunters. But that wasn't why many liked her. It was because of her willingness to help others.

It was why Toth had fallen in love with her, after all.

Now, however…

At the brink of twilight...

Her beauty was driving her brutish mind into the brink of insanity. And Toth was considering whether or not it was the good kind of insanity.

It even took her a few seconds to realize there was a gentle, soft pressure on her forehead.

She should be angry - she was the right hand of the ruler, she had been trained not to let any other fighters touch her in any way, as it could lead to fatality.

And yet Toth wasn't angry. She had a slight suspicion that it had something to do with Skout, who was leaning very closely, their nose inches away from touching.

"You okay?"

Toth wasn't sure. She didn't think she was okay, with all these weird butterflies swarming in her digestive systems, and her heart pounding faster than necessary despite the adrenaline already worn off ages ago.

"I'm fine," she said once she found her voice.

Bright green eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you sure about that? Cuz you've been zoning out like crazy. You haven't even taken a bite of your cotton candy!"

"I'm just tired." That was a lie. "Or maybe mad." That was a half lie. "We failed to capture the Nomad for what feels like the billionth time." That was no lie. "Sometimes… I wonder if we're even going to catch him." That was no lie either.

But the Nomad was not the source of her frustration.

The girl in front of her was.

But Toth couldn't afford to tell her that. For obvious reasons.

The pressure on her forehead was gone. There were two new pressures on her shoulders. Suddenly, Skout looked determined. More determined than she'd ever looked before.

And Toth found herself entranced by that determination.

"Now, now, Toth, either you're really really sick or you've been replaced by an evil robot from outer space! Because the Toth I know wouldn't say all of that nonsense!"

Toth frowned. She found the intention endearing, but she knew she was talking nonsense. It had been her intention, after all - to give Skout false leads, so she wouldn't know what was really bothering her.

Toth wouldn't know what to do if that ever happened, after all.

"Look," she sighed, unable to keep up her tough act, pushing away those slender arms as gently as she could. "I'll be fine once I'm rested. You don't need to be worried about me, you know. I've been doing this for years. I know what I'm doing."

"Do you, though?"

Toth looked at her.

Skout had this glint in her eyes - the kind that made her look older than she really was. It was as if those eyes held secrets. And she had her lips in a thin line, not curling in any way. The only thing preventing her from having a blank expression was the slight furrow of her eyebrows.

"Toth, I'm not stupid. You've been acting weird for this couple of weeks. Even towards-" she shook her head. "No, especially towards me. Something's bugging you. And it's bugging you real bad to the point where you don't sleep or eat or smile as much as you used to," her voice cracked a little at the last part. And Toth was surprised by how pained her chest was hearing that crack. "One moment you're being nice to me, and suddenly it's like when we first met again. It's just- I don't know what's wrong, Toth. Is it…" Her face broke into one of anguish. "Is it me? Did I do something wrong?"

"No! How can you say that?!" Both of their faces were one of shock. Toth felt her cheeks heat up, but that didn't prevent her from speaking.

Words were never her virtue - why would it be when she could punch someone into understanding her words? But… she knew violence was, sadly, not the right way to ending this, and so she tried with all her might to make sure her words were un-threatening at best.

"You've never done any wrong to me. All this time, you've been more of a help to me than all of those idiots combined. You've saved us more times than I can count. And you didn't abandon us when you had the chance. You've been good to us. You've been good to me. So never think that you're not because that's… that's wrong."

Her shoulders were a little lighter. She could breathe easier.

She watched as Skout's face changed emotions with each passing second, going from shock into curiosity and need.

"Then why? Why are you so… hurt? Who did this to you? What can I do to help?" There was a small pause before her face was one of sadness. "Toth, please tell me."

Toth would never do such a thing.

She would never tell Skout about how she fell in love with her.

… Not the whole truth.

"Maybe…" Toth cleared her throat when she heard her own voice. It was raspy. "Maybe it's because… I'm beginning to feel things…" Her eyes squinted at the word 'feel' in half-disdain. This emotion thing was never something she was good at. Nor was it something she considered valuable.

Skout didn't seem to think so. Instead, she leaned just a tad bit closer, hovering over her, her facial features screaming nothing but worry.

Up this close, Toth could see those dots across her cheeks. The dots that Skout was always embarrassed about. The dots she'd always find cute.

"Tell me more about these… feelings," the redhead begged.

Toth gazed at the now dark purple sky. She wasn't sure what she was going to say. But she knew she was going to say something anyway.

"It started out small… I thought, at first, these feelings were just… admirations. Respect. If only I'd known they were more… so much more…."

"Toth…?"

She kept going, clenching her eyes shut to avoid seeing that gorgeous face again. She knew that if she stopped now, she would never be able to gather the courage again.

"I tried not to think about them too much. Keep focusing on the mission. But… suddenly… I can't. I can't help but think about these feelings. These feelings I have towards… someone."

"... It sounds to me like you're in love." She was. "Either that or you really hate Red Manuel."

That brought out a chuckle. The chuckle soon died down when she somberly kept staring into the dark sky. Into nothingness. "It's the former." She couldn't believe she was saying this.

She wanted to take it all back and yet she wanted Skout to know just how special she was to her.

"Who… who is it?" There was hesitance in her voice. Not to mention worry. But there was something more - something Skout was desperately trying to hide. Something Toth was able to find anyway.

Hope.

Toth looked down at her hands. They were shaking. In fact, her entire body felt like it was shaking. She was sweating and yet she was cold. She was strong and yet she was limp. She was ecstatic and yet she was afraid.

If this were a normal circumstance, she would've brought herself to the infirmary, believing she'd had a fever of some kind.

But… this wasn't a normal circumstance, was it not?

Toth clenched her trembling hands, forcing them not to tremble. She then looked at Skout, who looked vulnerable and sad.

"I think you know who."

She expected the girl to try and deny it, or maybe she'd be in a state of denial, maybe get all flustered and not say a word.

But that was not what Skout did.

Instead, she briefly flickered her eyes to the fluffy treat before meeting her eyes again.

Skout leaned closer, and Toth's hand - the one holding the pink treat - was touched by a smaller, gentler, softer hand. She was grabbed by the wrist gently, and Skout pulled that hand closer towards her.

She then bit the cotton candy, her eyes never leaving Toth's.

Toth tried telling herself to look away, to not think about those pair of lips and wonder what they felt like.

Tried being the keyword.

"You haven't eaten it yet." Skout's voice was gentler and deeper. She didn't sound like the girl who wanted adventure. She sounded like a young woman who wanted… something. Something that she was probably going to get. "It was hard getting it, you know. You've got to at least taste it."

Toth didn't answer. She couldn't. Not with Skout looking at her like that.

Her hair was pulled aside and tucked in neatly. By Skout.

And the hand that had done so was now caressing, cupping her cheek. Skout's hand was warm. Warm in the way that comforted her. In the way that contrasted her coldness. It felt nice.

Skout was leaning towards her again, and this time, Toth knew it wasn't because she was worried, or that she was checking her body temperature.

No. She'd be a dunderhead to think that.

She closed her eyes and parted her lips.

And suddenly her world was the pair of lips crashing against hers.

It lasted shortly and it was the most amazing few seconds she'd ever had.

She found the courage to open those yellow eyes again. The first thing that came to mind was how red Skout's cheeks were. She was flushed. Toth was sure her own cheeks were like that too, if not, more flushed.

But she couldn't find it in herself to care, not with the way the girl was looking up at her, smiling coyly. "So… how is it?"

Toth didn't have to think for an answer.

"Sweet. Like cotton candy."

**Author's Note:**

> Nomad is underrated. Though, I think it's partly because of the art style and how cheery the first few episodes are. I do hope the fandom will grow as Season 2 comes.


End file.
